The Russia Investigations and other Trump-related cases

[Voronwë the Faithful]

At the hearing this morning, Judge Jackson ordered prosecutors to file a document detailing Manafort's alleged breach of the plea agreement by next Friday. So we may know more then. Sentencing for Manafort was set for March 15, 2019 (he also has sentencing date in February for the charges that he was convicted on in the Virginia case). Prosecutors stated at the hearing that they are still evaluating whether to charge Manafort with additional charges in light of his alleged breach of the plea agreement.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Michael Cohen's attorneys filed last night a lengthy memorandum seeking that he not be sentenced to any jail time (that won't happen). In it he detailed further his coordination with Mr. Trump and others in the White House regarding his false testimony to Congress as well as his coordination with Mr. Trump in making or coordinating the payments to Stormy Daniels and Karen McDougal. One thing that stood out to me is that they state that next week the special counsel's office with submit a letter detailing Mr. Cohen's cooperation with them. That might just include generalities, but it will be interesting to see if it includes any details of other areas that he has provided information.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

I've read the prosecutors sentencing memo for Flynn. While they say that his cooperation has been helpful and therefore recommend no prison time for him, all the juicy stuff is redacted, so it does not provide the kind of information people hoped for. I suspect the same might be the case for the Cohen and Manafort memos.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

While we wait for the Cohen and Manafort documents to drop (the Cohen documents will likely come first since I noticed today that there is an order from the judge in that case that prosecutors from both the special counsel's office and the Southern District of NY hand-deliver their sentencing memos to chambers by 5:00 p.m. EST whereas the Manafort memo detailing his alleged "lies and crimes" abrogating his plea agreement need only be filed by midnight EST), there is this tidbit:

Mueller Investigators Interviewed Kelly in Obstruction Probe

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Meanwhile, Giuliani, who simply can't seem to keep his mouth shut, says that Mueller is claiming that Manafort lied about Mr. Trump, and specificially, about the Trump Tower meeting. My guess is that if that is true, it will not be apparent in the document filed today as that will likely be blacked out.


This may well be the most Giuliani sentence ever: ""In the questioning of Manafort, they did tell them at the time that they believed he was lying about certain things related to us that he is not lying about."
https://www.cnn.com/2018/12/07/politics ... index.html

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The SDNY prosecutors have filed their sentencing memo in Cohen's case. They make little allowance for Cohen's cooperation with the Special Counsel's office and none at all for his cooperation with them since he never entered into a cooperation agreement with them. But there is some juicy stuff in there, primarily this:

On approximately June 16, 2015, Individual-1, for whom Cohen worked at the time, began an ultimately successful campaign for President of the United States. Cohen had no formal title with the campaign, but had a campaign email address, and, at various times advised the campaign, including on matters of interest to the press. Cohen also made media appearances as a surrogate and supporter of Individual-1. (PSR ¶ 39).
During the campaign, Cohen played a central role in two similar schemes to purchase the rights to stories – each from women who claimed to have had an affair with Individual-1 – so as to suppress the stories and thereby prevent them from influencing the election. With respect to both payments, Cohen acted with the intent to influence the 2016 presidential election. Cohen coordinated his actions with one or more members of the campaign, including through meetings and phone calls, about the fact, nature, and timing of the payments. (PSR ¶ 51). In particular, and as Cohen himself has now admitted, with respect to both payments, he acted in coordination with and at the direction of Individual-1. (PSR ¶¶ 41, 45). As a result of Cohen’s actions, neither woman spoke to the press prior to the election. (PSR ¶ 51).

In other words, the President of the United States committed an unambiguous felony that helped him become president of the United States.


The special counsel's memo should be dropping any minute now, although I suppose just because the judge ordered that it be hand-delivered to him by 5:00 doesn't mean it needs to be filed by then.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

The SDNY memo does say "As set forth in the submission being filed by the SCO in 18 Cr. 850 (WHP), this Office understands that the information provided by Cohen to the SCO was ultimately credible and useful to its ongoing investigation."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And here is what the Special Counsel says about Cohen's cooperation"

The defendant has provided, and has committed to continue to provide, relevant and truthful information to the SCO in an effort to assist with the investigation. The defendant has met with the SCO for seven proffer sessions, many of them lengthy, and continues to make himself
available to investigators. His statements beginning with the second meeting with the SCO have been credible, and he has taken care not to overstate his knowledge or the role of others in the conduct under investigation.

The defendant’s assistance has been useful in four significant respects. First, the defendant provided information about his own contacts with Russian interests during the campaign and discussions with others in the course of making those contacts. For example, and as described above, the defendant provided a detailed account of his involvement and the involvement of others in the Moscow Project, and also corrected the record concerning his outreach to the Russian government during the week of the United Nations General Assembly. The defendant also provided information about attempts by other Russian nationals to reach the campaign. For example, in or around November 2015, Cohen received the contact information for, and spoke
with, a Russian national who claimed to be a “trusted person” in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign “political synergy” and “synergy on a government level.” The defendant recalled that this person repeatedly proposed a meeting between Individual 1 and the President of
Russia. The person told Cohen that such a meeting could have a “phenomenal” impact “not only in political but in a business dimension as well,” referring to the Moscow Project, because there is “no bigger warranty in any project than consent of [the President of Russia].” Cohen, however, did not follow up on this invitation.3

Second, Cohen provided the SCO with useful information concerning certain discrete Russia-related matters core to its investigation that he obtained by virtue of his regular contact with Company executives during the campaign.

Third, Cohen provided relevant and useful information concerning his contacts with persons connected to the White House during the 2017–2018 time period.

Fourth, Cohen described the circumstances of preparing and circulating his response to the congressional inquiries, while continuing to accept responsibility for the false statements contained within it.

Nothing really earth-shattering there, other than the confirmation of contacts with a "trusted person" in the Russian Federation who could offer the campaign “political synergy” and “synergy on a government level.”

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And in the Manafort case the judge has granted a motion to file the prosecutors document under seal but ordered them to file for the public record a redacted version. I doubt there will be much that will be unredacted.

[Frelga]

I like how the identity of Individual-1 is kept secret and all we know is that he started an ultimately successful campaign to become the President. I guess it will remain a mystery forever.

[elengil]

I like how the identity of Individual-1 is kept secret and all we know is that he started an ultimately successful campaign to become the President. I guess it will remain a mystery forever.

Obv. Obama.

[Primula Baggins]

Oh jeepers, elengil, you gave it all away!

[Frelga]

Tweet of the day.

https://twitter.com/MyChickenDinner/sta ... 8532137984

If Donald Trump wanted Hillary Clinton locked up, he should have hired her to work on his campaign.

[elengil]

Saw this today, immediately thought of y'all.




also: Frelga

[Frelga]

What's this?

The Hill
Ethics watchdog sues FBI over leaks to Giuliani

Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW) said in its announcement of the lawsuit that information was leaked to Giuliani in October 2016, during the final weeks of the presidential campaign, giving the former New York mayor a tip that then-FBI Director James Comey was going to reopen the investigation into Hillary Clinton's use of a private email server while she served as secretary of State.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Comey has long maintained - and testified again last week -- that the reason he felt he needed to announce that they were reopening the investigation was that the New York office was leaking to Giuliani and others. I'm not sure what the point of suing about it now is, however.

Speaking of suits that are a waste of time, Jerome Corsi has sued Mueller, the Justice Department, the FBI, the CIA and the NSA for $350 million.

And Maria Butina, the Russian who was charged with being an agent of the Russian government infiltrating the NRA, has reached a plea deal and agreed to cooperate.

[Frelga]

They are suing for the FBI to release records. Not sure what could come out of this.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

There was a scheduling hearing in Manafort's case, and the judge ordered the following:

Manafort will file a document responding to the prosecutors accusations of his "lies and crimes" by 1/7/19
The prosecutors will file a response to that, if any, by 1/14/19
Manafort will file any additional reply to the prosecutors response by 1/18/19
A hearing will then be held about the alleged breach of the plea agreement on 1/25/19, if deemed necessary.

[Voronwë the Faithful]

Michael Cohen at his sentencing hearing: "Recently the President tweeted a statement calling me weak and it was correct but for a much different reason than he was implying. It was because time and time again I felt it was my duty to cover up his dirty deeds."

ETA: Judge William Pauley: "Mr. Cohen pled guilty to a veritable smorgasbord of fraudulent conduct."

[Voronwë the Faithful]

And Cohen is sentenced to 3 years in prison. Frankly, I think that is the best he could have hoped for, with a judge known as a strict sentencer and prosecutors seeking a stiff sentence. Would he have gotten a better deal had he entered into a traditional cooperation agreement from the get-go? Perhaps, but I doubt it would have been much better.

From the perspective of the Russian investigation, the special counsel representative at the hearing unambiguously stated that Cohen told them "the truth". That suggests that they have some solid evidence corroborating whatever it is that he told them. Which is not good news for Mr. Trump.

ETA: Cohen was also ordered to pay more than $1 million in restitution.